Mitt Romney and his campaign handlers chose to focus on the ex-governor's work at Bain Capital as his number one qualification to become our nation's next president. Makes sense. Romney, literally, made a fortune during the Bain years. The talking points seemed natural.

The U.S. economy is sluggishly recovering... but with unemployment still at over 8%....Mitt and his crew calculated that focusing on Romney's 'vast business experience and success' at Bain as Mitt's main strength would be a no brainer. The clarion call went out.....Mitt Romney knows how the economy works because he's had vast experience in that economy, and he has become fabulously wealthy as a result of that seasoned experience.

But the Romney campaign...I think naively...thought that Mitt's venture capital-corporate raider experience would be well received by American voters. Miscalculation. The unavoidable comparison with corporate chop-shopper Gordon Gekko emerged.....Texas Gov. Rick Perry mentioned the words "vulture capitalism"....and President Obama insisted that being president meant working in the interests of all Americans....not just rich investors looking for another big score.

Mitt's other experience was as governor of Massachusetts. Because Democrats passed a national health insurance bill which looks identical to the one Mitt passed in Massachusetts while governor there....a bill now lovingly labeled RomneyCare....Romney has steered clear of featuring his experience as Massachusetts governor. ObamaCare, fashioned after RomneyCare, to conservatives, is the proverbial mark of the beast. Better Mitt not bring that subject up.

That leaves the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. How many times have you heard this claim ...."Mitt Romney saved the Olympic Games"? In fact, of the mysterious dark hole of 1999-2002 Bain leadership, it has been said repeatedly and defensively....'Mitt couldn't have been running Bain or overseeing Bain or even know what Bain was up to during those murky years when Mitt was still cashing a yearly $100,000 paycheck from Bain.....BECAUSE....he was buried in the salvation waters of the 2002 Winter Olympics. So covered up was Mitt, saving those winter games, that he couldn't possibly have been doing anything with Bain during those years.

But did Mitt Romney "save" the 2002 Winter Olympics? And if he did....how did he do it? Long story short....Mitt took over the Utah games after a bribery scandal orchestrated by the Salt Lake City Olympic Bid Team became public. The credibility of the Games was on the line.....and Romney was to be the white knight rushing in to disinfect the place.

There's no question that Mr. Romney did a good job of salvaging respect for the Games held in Salt Lake City in 2002. However, what potential November voters don't know yet .....is how Mitt saved those Games. Truth be told....we-the-people saved the 2002 Winter Olympics...

When the dust settled, Mitt’s lobbying effort brought over $1.5 Billion to the SLC Games. In 2000 the GAO did an audit of US taxpayer support for Olympic Games in the country. Taxpayers spent $74,654,000 for the LA Games in 1984; and $608,512,000 for the 1996 in Atlanta. These were both summer Olympics and so you would expect them to cost more. But, the 2002 Winter Games in SLC blew the doors off the Treasury—taxpayers paid $1.5 Billion to bail out Mitt.

I'm not sure if it was because of Romney's loyalty to states rights, you know, or not.....but $1.25 billion of the $1.5 billion in U.S. tax dollars that were spent "saving" the 2002 Winter Games ....were spent on helping "the host city prepare their infrastructure." "10 major road and highway projects (were) funded by taxpayers for the Winter Games."

All that federal largesse poured into Salt Lake City infrastructure kicked off yet another scandal involving many of Mitt's closest monied buddies. The Olympic Committee bribery scandal brought Mitt to Utah....and a real estate positioning scandal involving many of Mitt's long time Utah connections followed Mitt's "saving" of the Games.

And it was all done with.....tax dollars....3 times the tax dollars spent on the bigger, Atlanta Summer Games in 1996.

What can we conclude? Yes, Romney organized the lobbyists to D.C.and ran the money raising side of the Games. And he did an excellent job. However, he "saved" the Games with $1.5 BILLION of our tax dollars.

Which means that WE saved the 2002 Utah Summer Games....not Mitt. Not sure how a man running for president on an anti-government, small government, 10th amendment states rights, and so forth, platform...can point to his spending of $1.5 billion of U.S. tax dollars as a tribute to his Randian capitalistic "salvation" expertise......but that's the story we keep hearing.